Method for data communication in a vehicle and data communication device

ABSTRACT

A method for data communication in a vehicle between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle includes transmitting, by the in-vehicle device, data via a data bus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communication device, a first data protocol being used for this purpose, in which an arbitration occurs. The data communication device converts the data, and the data communication device transmits the converted data via a data link to the mobile device. A second data protocol is used in the data transmission from the in-vehicle data communication device to the mobile device, in which no arbitration occurs. A data communication device by which the method of the invention may be implemented is also described.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/112,159 filed on Dec. 21, 2013, which is a national phase ofInternational Application No. PCT/EP2012/001228 filed on Mar. 21, 2012,which claims priority to German Patent Application No. 10 2011 017 332.3filed on Apr. 16, 2011, each of which is expressly incorporated hereinin its entirety by reference thereto.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method for data communication in avehicle between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled to thevehicle. In the method, the in-vehicle device transmits data via a databus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communication device, a firstdata protocol being used for this purpose, in which an arbitrationoccurs. The data communication device then converts the data andtransmits the converted data via a data link to the mobile device. Thepresent invention furthermore relates to a data communication device bywhich this method may be implemented. The data communication device isprovided in the vehicle and is provided for the data communicationbetween the in-vehicle device and the mobile device coupled to thevehicle. It includes a first interface for receiving data from thein-vehicle device via a data bus of the vehicle, a first data protocolbeing used for this purpose, in which an arbitration occurs. Itfurthermore has a converter for converting the received data and asecond interface for transmitting the converted data via a data link tothe mobile device.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

When coupling mobile devices with devices of the vehicle, it isnecessary to use compatible data protocols that make it possible for thein-vehicle device to process the data received from the mobile deviceand conversely for the mobile device to process the data of thein-vehicle device. When coupling a mobile navigation device with thevehicle, it is known for example to couple the mobile navigation systemwith in-vehicle devices via the interface for an automotive diagnosticsystem (the so-called OBD-II jack). Vehicle-specific information issupplied to the mobile navigation device via this interface, inparticular information relevant to the environment. This information maybe used for a fuel-optimized navigation function of the mobilenavigation device.

German Application No. DE 199 21 533 describes a communication system ofa motor vehicle. This communication system includes a mobile telephoneand an audio and/or information system, which is installed in the motorvehicle and which includes a receiving device and an acoustic outputunit as well as a microphone for implementing a hands-free speakingfunction. The communication system allows for a voice and/or datatransmission between the mobile telephone and the audio and/orinformation system via a wireless link. Telephone calls received by themobile telephone are able to be output via the acoustic output unit. Thecommunication between the mobile telephone and the audio and/orinformation system installed in the motor vehicle occurs via a secondradio link, which is developed as a bidirectional short-distance link.The communication between the system installed in the motor vehicle andthe mobile telephone makes it possible to operate the mobile telephonevia operating elements of a radio of the vehicle for example. The mobiletelephone may furthermore be used as a remote control for the radio.Finally, other vehicle functions, which are connected via a suitablebus, may also be controlled by the mobile telephone.

SUMMARY

An objective of the present invention is to provide a method and adevice of the kind mentioned at the outset, which allows for datacommunication between the mobile device and an in-vehicle device, itbeing possible to use already existing and possibly standardizedcommunication protocols for this purpose.

The method according to the present invention includes a second dataprotocol that may be used in the data transmission from the in-vehicledata communication device to the mobile device, in which no arbitrationoccurs.

An in-vehicle device according to the present invention may bepermanently installed in the vehicle. It may be removed only by a tool,for example. In-vehicle devices may include, for example, the variousdevices of the electronic system of the vehicle, in particularinformation and infotainment systems and driver assistance systems, suchas an electronic parking assistant, for example.

A mobile device coupled with the vehicle according to the presentinvention may not be permanently installed in the vehicle, but typicallymay be manually disconnected from the vehicle by the user and may bemechanically connected to the vehicle. A physical connection to thevehicle, however, is not necessary. With mobile devices, it oftensuffices for the device to be located within the vehicle and to becoupled with the vehicle only for data exchange. Such a mobile devicemay be, in particular, a mobile navigation system, a mobile telephone ora so-called PDA (personal digital assistant).

An arbitration in data communication may be a process of solving dataaccess conflicts or data access collisions. Data may be prioritized, forexample, such that the sequence of processing the transmitted data isdefined. The method according to the present invention may use dataprotocols with arbitration and without arbitration. For this purpose,the in-vehicle data communication between the in-vehicle device and thein-vehicle data communication device via the data bus of the vehicle maybe arbitrated such that conventional bus systems may be used invehicles. In the data transmission to the mobile device, by contrast, adifferent data protocol may be used, in which no arbitration occurs. Inthis manner, the data communication with the mobile device may besimplified and adapted to interfaces as are common outside of the use invehicles. For example, interfaces may be used, which are used inconsumer electronics or mobile telephone technology. A method is thusadvantageously provided, in which different, already existing andpossibly standardized communication protocols may be used and combined.This facilitates the use of external devices from consumer electronicsand of add-on devices for vehicles. In particular, an exchange of datamay be made possible between the external mobile device, which iscoupled with the vehicle for data exchange, and in-vehicle devices.

The data communication device may convert the data received via the databus of the vehicle into a data format for an asynchronous serialinterface for the purpose of transmitting data using the second dataprotocol. Such an interface is very common in electronic devices outsideof the vehicle, which means that the conversion of the data for thisinterface facilitates the connection of electronic devices that have nospecial adaptations to the vehicle electronic system.

The data communication device may filter the data received via thevehicle bus prior to transmitting the converted data to the mobiledevice. Normally, a multitude of data are transmitted via the data busof the vehicle, which are not relevant for the mobile device. It istherefore not necessary for the mobile device to be able to access thesedata. The filtering thus significantly reduces the quantity of datatransmitted to the mobile device. On the other hand, however, the datarelevant overall or temporarily for the mobile device may be extractedand transmitted to the mobile device in a converted state. Thisadditionally provides a firewall function.

The data link between the data communication device and the mobiledevice may be in particular a serial point-to-point connection. In sucha point-to-point connection, an arbitration is advantageously notnecessary. Data relevant for the mobile device are transmitted directlyfrom the data communication device to the mobile device. Conversely, themobile device is able to transmit data directly to the datacommunication device so that they may be processed by in-vehicledevices.

The data link between the mobile device and the data communicationdevice may be a conventional wired connection for example. A short-rangeradio link may also be established, however, for example, a Bluetooth orWLAN link. This allows for common interfaces of mobile devices to beused for the communication with devices of the vehicle.

The data in the second data protocol may be transmitted in packets, thelength of a data packet being greater than 8 bytes and smaller than 255bytes. In the case of the second data protocol, one is thusadvantageously not limited to data packets of 8 bytes, as are used forexample in the data transmission over data buses of the vehicle. Thismakes it possible to design the data transmission between the in-vehicledata communication device and the mobile device in a more flexiblemanner.

An authentication code may be transmitted to the mobile device whentransmitting data from the in-vehicle data communication device to themobile device. The mobile device is thus able to ensure that it hasindeed received data from an internal device of a vehicle or a specificinternal device of the vehicle.

It is furthermore possible to encrypt the data transmission between thedata communication device and the mobile device. This ensures thesecurity of the data transmission and prevents the data communicationfrom being read by unauthorized third parties. Alternatively, theprotocol definition may also prevent free access or reading by thirdparties.

The data transmission between the in-vehicle data communication deviceand the mobile device may occur, in particular, bidirectionally. Thisallows for audio source control, for example. Audio data of the mobiledevice may be converted via the loudspeakers installed in the vehicle,for example, it being possible for the in-vehicle devices to perform anaudio priority management and/or provide a visual representation of thestate of the audio output. Conversely, it is also possible to use theaudio output of the mobile device to output data from audio sources ofin-vehicle devices. The audio output in this instance may be controlledby an in-vehicle device and/or by the mobile device.

When transmitting data between the in-vehicle device and the mobiledevice, it is furthermore possible to transmit specification informationof the mobile device to the in-vehicle data communication device and/orto transmit specification information of the data communication deviceto the mobile device. This makes it possible to test the mutualcompatibility of the respective hardware and software. In addition,adaptations to the utilized hardware and/or software may be performed,thus avoiding errors of applications which use both in-vehicle devicesas well as the mobile device.

The data bus of the vehicle may be in particular the CAN (controllerarea network) bus of the vehicle. A common standardized data protocol isthus used for the communication between the in-vehicle devices and thein-vehicle data communication device. The data communication device mayconvert the data received via the CAN bus into an intermediate dataformat. Following the data transmission to the mobile device, the latterconverts the data received from the data communication device into adata format for the asynchronous serial interface. To be sure, the dataconversion via the intermediate data format requires another dataconversion in the mobile device. However, this yields the followingadvantages: in the data conversion in the in-vehicle data communicationdevice, a data structure remains intact, which allows the use ofexisting development tools for simulation and error debugging. Thesedevelopmental tools are already used in the analysis of the datatransmission via the CAN bus. They may also be used in the method of thepresent invention for verifying the data communication with the mobiledevice. The data structures that are not required for this purpose,however, such as in particular arbitration, do not have to be used inthe data transmission to the mobile device so that the expenditure fordata conversion in the mobile device is reduced. No special developmenttools are thus required for the analysis of the data communication withthe mobile device.

In particular, audio data may be transmitted from the mobile device tothe data communication device and may be output by the datacommunication device possibly via another in-vehicle device.

The data communication device according to the present invention mayinclude a converter that is able to convert the data for the datatransmission to the mobile device into a second data protocol, in whichno arbitration occurs. The data communication device according to thepresent invention may be used in particular for implementing the methodof the present invention. Consequently, it offers the same advantages asthe method of the present invention.

The in-vehicle data communication device may be comprised in particularby a radio. Such a radio is normally provided in most motor vehicles. Inthe device according to the present invention, it thus assumes thefunction of a central interface in the vehicle, which provides for thedata communication with mobile devices. The mobile device is inparticular a mobile navigation device. The data communication device mayfurthermore include a CD drive or other multimedia or infotainmentdevices.

The data communication device according to the present invention maythus provide for an interface between the radio of the vehiclemanufacturer and for example a mobile navigation device for end users,which is not permanently installed in the vehicle. A fully functionalradio-navigation system may be provided in this manner, which iscost-effective and in which the mobile navigation device may be updatedsimply and cost-effectively and adapted to further developments in thisarea. The development cycles of radio-navigation systems may beshortened in this manner.

In the method and data communication device according to the presentinvention, it may also be possible to use again existing data protocolsand thus also existing development tools in the development process.This simplifies the development of the radio-navigation system.Moreover, this makes it possible to save development costs. It isfurthermore possible to combine the manifold functions of the controlunits in the vehicle with the mobile device into one overall systemwithout having to adapt the control units of the vehicle or theirsoftware. For this purpose, data obtained in the vehicle and operatingelements of the vehicle may be used to extend and improve thefunctionality of the mobile device, in particular of the mobilenavigation device.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows schematically a motor vehicle having a data communicationsystem, which uses one exemplary embodiment of the data communicationdevice according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary embodiment of the data communication deviceand its connection to the vehicle bus and the mobile device.

FIG. 3 schematically shows an exemplary embodiment of the methodaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An exemplary embodiment of data communication device 2 of the presentinvention is described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

Data communication device 2 is permanently installed in vehicle 1. It isin particular integrated in a permanently installed radio. Datacommunication device 2 is thus developed in particular for datacommunication with other in-vehicle devices. For this purpose, it iscoupled via interface 15 with CAN bus 4 of the vehicle, which in turn isconnected to additional in-vehicle devices 5, 6 and 7. These additionalin-vehicle devices 5, 6 and 7 may include sensors for example, whichrecord operating data of the vehicle such as, for example, the currentspeed, the current fuel consumption and similar data. Furthermore,in-vehicle devices 5, 6 and 7 may be driver assistance systems such as aparking assistant, for example. Finally, in-vehicle devices 5, 6 and 7may be multimedia or infotainment devices, which are provided inaddition to the radio, which contains data communication device 2. Themultimedia or infotainment devices, however, may also be contained inthe radio. Data communication device 2 is furthermore coupled with aloudspeaker 3 for outputting audio data.

Furthermore, a mobile device 8 is situated in vehicle 1. This is, inparticular, a mobile navigation device. Mobile device 8 is fastened viaa mounting device 10 known per se on windshield 11 of the vehicle or onthe dashboard. For the purpose of establishing a data link betweenmobile device 8 and data communication device 2 of vehicle 1, mobiledevice 8 has an interface 14. This is an asynchronous serial interface.Via this interface 14, mobile device 8 may be connected with interface18 of data communication device 2 for example via a cable 9.Alternatively or additionally, interfaces 14 or 18 may also communicatewith each other via a radio link such as for example a so-calledBluetooth or WLAN link. Mobile device 8 may furthermore include adisplay area 13 and a loudspeaker 19.

For the transmission of data from CAN bus 4 to mobile device 8, datacommunication device 2 has a filter device 16 for filtering the datareceived from CAN bus 4 and a converter 17 for converting the receiveddata for transmission to mobile device 8. The function of filter device16 and converter 17 will be explained later with reference to theexemplary embodiment of the method according to the present invention.

Finally, mobile device 8 may be coupled in a data link with anothermobile device 12, for example via a radio link. Additional mobile device12 may be a mobile telephone or a music playback device.

In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the method according to thepresent invention is explained with reference to FIG. 3.

The user is readily able to remove mobile device 8 manually from vehicle1 and carry it along. The user is able to fasten it again physically tothe vehicle by mounting device 10. Via interface 14, with the aid ofcable 9 or a radio link, the user is able to couple mobile device 8 instep S1 in a data link to data communication device 2 of vehicle 1.

Subsequently, in step S2, authentication data are exchanged between datacommunication device 2 and mobile device 8. On the basis of theseauthentication data, mobile device 8 is able to ensure that the datareceived via interface 14 come from in-vehicle devices of vehicle 1.Conversely, data communication device 2 is able to identify mobiledevice 8 on the basis of the authentication data.

Specification data regarding the hardware and software versions ofmobile device 8 and data communication device 2 as well as possibleadditional in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7 are exchanged in step S3. Thisensures the compatibility of applications using data communicationdevice 2.

The authentication data and the specification data are verified in stepS4. In the event of a successful verification, data communication isenabled over interfaces 14 and 18 between data communication device 2and mobile device 8.

In step S5, data communication device 2 now checks via interface 15whether data are supplied by CAN bus 4 that are to be transferred tomobile device 8. A first data protocol known per se is used fortransmitting data via CAN bus 4. In this data protocol, the data to betransmitted are divided into data packets of a length of 8 bytes.Furthermore, an arbitration is performed. For data transmitted via CANbus 4 are addressed such that there may be various senders that transmitdata packets which may be received by various recipients. This is thus akind of broadcast transmission. When various senders transmit data viathe CAN bus, it is necessary to determine a sequence in which apotential recipient reads out the data. A prioritization is thusperformed.

If it has been determined that there are relevant data for mobile device8, then the data packets received from CAN bus 4 via interface 15 arefiltered in filter device 16 such that only data relevant for mobiledevice 8 remain. This filtering occurs in step S6. In step S7, thefiltered data packets are then converted by converter 17 fortransmission to the mobile device. The limitation of the data packets to8 bytes is lifted in the conversion. The data packets generated fortransmission to mobile device 8 may be greater than 8 bytes. They willnormally be smaller than 255 bytes, however.

The data link between data communication device 2 and mobile device 8 isa point-to-point connection. The data transmission thus does not occurby the broadcast method. Therefore, no arbitration is used in the datatransmission. Converter 17 thus converts the data received from CAN bus4 into a second data protocol, which does not use arbitration, which isnot limited to a data packet size of 8 bytes and which provides a dataformat for asynchronous serial interface 14 of mobile device 8.

In step S8, the data are transmitted to mobile device 8 via interfaces18 and 14 using this second data protocol. In step S9, mobile device 8then processes the received data and, if applicable, produces acousticand visual outputs.

After the link of mobile device 8 with data communication device 2 isenabled in step S4, data may also be transmitted in step S10 from mobiledevice 8 to data communication device 2 via interface 14 and interface18. This data transmission also uses the second data protocol. In stepS11, the data of the second data protocol are then converted inconverter 17 into the data format of the first data protocol, whichcorresponds to the data format of CAN bus 4. In the process, the datapackets are modified such that they comprise at most 8 bytes.Furthermore, an arbitration is performed. In step S12, these data arethen transmitted to CAN bus 4. From there, they may be retrieved byin-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7. This retrieval of the data is supported bythe arbitration. In addition, a prioritization relative to other datatransmitted via CAN bus 4 is performed. Instead of transmitting the datato CAN bus 4, the data may also be prepared for acoustic output vialoudspeaker 3 in step S13.

The data communication between mobile device 8 and data communicationdevice 2 may be used for manifold applications. For example, the audiooutput may be controlled via the loudspeaker 19 of mobile device 8and/or via in-vehicle loudspeaker 3. If the mobile device is a mobilenavigation device, the audio output of the navigation device may occurnot only via loudspeaker 19, but also via loudspeaker 3, which iscontrolled by data communication device 2 integrated in the radio. Inthis instance, data communication device 2 is able to interrupt theaudio output of audio data, which are output for example by anin-vehicle music player, in order to output audio outputs of mobilenavigation device 8. A display device of the radio receiver mayadditionally represent visually which audio outputs are currentlyactive.

The data communication between data communication device 2 and mobiledevice 8 may furthermore be used for a display of a parking assistant.The data of the parking assistant formed by an in-vehicle device 5, 6, 7are transmitted to data communication device 2 via CAN bus 4 in thefirst data protocol. There the data are filtered and converted andtransmitted to mobile device 8, in which the image data are output ondisplay area 13.

The data exchange between data communication device 2 and mobile device8 may also include an exchange of operating data that make it possiblefor the radio containing data communication device 2 and/or otherin-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7 to be operated using mobile device 8. Mobiledevice 8 has an input device for this purpose. Display area 13 may bedeveloped as a touch screen, for example.

Conversely, the data communication between data communication device 2and mobile device 8 may also be used to operate mobile device 8 via theoperating elements of vehicle 1. The operating signals may betransmitted from corresponding operating elements via CAN bus 4 to datacommunication device 2 and converted there into operating signals forthe asynchronous serial interface 14 of the mobile device such thatmobile device 8 is able to process these operating signals once theyhave been transmitted to mobile device 8.

Another exemplary embodiment of the method of the present invention isdescribed in the following.

In this second exemplary embodiment, converter 17 does not convert thefirst data protocol of CAN bus 4 directly into the second data protocolfor the asynchronous serial interface.

Instead, a conversion into an intermediate data format is performed,e.g., between steps S8 and S9. The final conversion into the second dataformat occurs only within interface 14 of mobile device 8. Theintermediate data format, which is output via interface 18 of datacommunication device 2, is characterized by the fact that no arbitrationis performed. The intermediate data format, however, corresponds to thefirst data protocol to the extent that development tools may continue tobe used with very small adjustments for simulation and error debuggingof data transmitted via CAN bus 4.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   1 vehicle-   2 data communication device-   3 loudspeaker-   4 CAN bus-   5 in-vehicle device-   6 in-vehicle device-   7 in-vehicle device-   8 mobile device-   9 cable-   10 mounting device-   11 windshield-   12 additional mobile device-   13 display area-   14 interface-   15 interface-   16 filter device-   17 converter-   18 interface-   19 loudspeaker

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for data communication in a vehiclebetween an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with thevehicle, the method comprising: transmitting, by the in-vehicle device,data via a data bus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communicationdevice, a first data protocol being used in which an arbitration occurs,filtering, by the data communication device, the data such that onlydata relevant to the mobile device remains; converting, by the datacommunication device, the filtered data into a data format for anasynchronous serial interface, for transmission via a second dataprotocol in which no arbitration occurs, and transmitting, by the datacommunication device, the converted data via a data link to the mobiledevice, the second data protocol being used; wherein, after a data linkis established between the mobile device and the data communicationdevice, specification data reflecting hardware and/or software of themobile device is received by the data communication device, andspecification data reflecting hardware and/or software of the datacommunication device and the in-vehicle device is transmitted to themobile device, the specification data of the mobile device and thespecification data of the data communication device and the in-vehicledevice determining a compatibility of the hardware and/or software ofthe data communication device, the in vehicle device, and the mobiledevice.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data linkbetween the data communication device and the mobile device is a serialpoint-to-point connection.
 3. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe data in the second data protocol are transmitted in packets, alength of a data packet being greater than 8 bytes and smaller than 255bytes.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the datatransmission from the data communication device to the mobile device, anauthentication code is transmitted to the mobile device.
 5. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: encrypting the datatransmission between the data communication device and the mobiledevice.
 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:receiving, by the data communication device, data from the mobile deviceaccording to the second protocol.
 7. The method according to claim 6,wherein the data received by the data communication device from themobile device is audio data.
 8. The method according to claim 6, whereinthe data received by the data communication device from the mobiledevice allows for control of audio output from the mobile device.
 9. Themethod according to claim 6, wherein the data received by the datacommunication device from the mobile device allows for control of audiooutput from in-vehicle device.
 10. The method according to claim 6,wherein the data received by the data communication device from themobile device is specification information of the mobile device.
 11. Themethod according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting audio datafrom the mobile device to the data communication device, andacoustically outputting the audio data by the data communication device.12. A method for data communication in a vehicle between an in-vehicledevice and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle, the methodcomprising: transmitting, by the in-vehicle device, data via a data busof the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communication device, a first dataprotocol being used in which an arbitration occurs, converting, by thedata communication device, the data into a data format for anasynchronous serial interface, for transmission via a second dataprotocol in which no arbitration occurs, and transmitting, by the datacommunication device, the converted data via a data link to the mobiledevice, the second data protocol being used; wherein the data bus of thevehicle is a controller area network bus, the data communication deviceconverts the data received via the controller area network bus into anintermediate data format, and the mobile device converts the datareceived from the data communication device into the data format for theasynchronous serial interface.
 13. A method for data communication in avehicle between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled withthe vehicle, the method comprising: transmitting, by the in-vehicledevice, data via a data bus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle datacommunication device, a first data protocol being used in which anarbitration occurs, filtering, by the data communication device, thedata such that only data relevant to the mobile device remains;converting, by the data communication device, the filtered data into anintermediate data format, and transmitting, by the data communicationdevice, the converted data via a data link to the mobile device, anintermediate data protocol being used in which no arbitration occurs;converting, by the mobile device, the data into a second data format, asecond data protocol being used in which no arbitration occurs; wherein,after a data link is established between the mobile device and the datacommunication device, specification data reflecting hardware and/orsoftware of the mobile device is received by the data communicationdevice, and specification data reflecting hardware and/or software ofthe data communication device and the in-vehicle device is transmittedto the mobile device, the specification data of the mobile device andthe specification data of the data communication device and thein-vehicle device determining a compatibility of the hardware and/orsoftware of the data communication device, the in vehicle device, andthe mobile device.
 14. A data communication device in a vehicle for datacommunication between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupledwith the vehicle, comprising: a first interface adapted for receivingdata from the in-vehicle device via a data bus of the vehicle, a firstdata protocol being used in which an arbitration occurs, a filteradapted for filtering the data such that only data relevant to themobile device remains; a converter adapted for converting the filtereddata into a data format for an asynchronous serial interface, fortransmission via a second data protocol in which no arbitration occurs,and a second interface adapted for transmitting the converted data via adata link to the mobile device, the second data protocol being used;wherein, after a data link is established between the mobile device andthe data communication device, specification data reflecting hardwareand/or software of the mobile device is received by the datacommunication device, and specification data reflecting hardware and/orsoftware of the data communication device and the in-vehicle device istransmitted to the mobile device, the specification data of the mobiledevice and the specification data of the data communication device andthe in-vehicle device determining a compatibility of the hardware and/orsoftware of the data communication device, the in vehicle device, andthe mobile device.
 15. The data communication device according to claim14, wherein the data communication device comprises a radio.
 16. A datacommunication device in a vehicle for data communication between anin-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle,comprising: a first interface adapted for receiving data from thein-vehicle device via a data bus of the vehicle, a first data protocolbeing used in which an arbitration occurs, a converter adapted forconverting the data into a data format for an asynchronous serialinterface, for transmission via a second data protocol in which noarbitration occurs, and a second interface adapted for transmitting theconverted data via a data link to the mobile device, the second dataprotocol being used; wherein the data bus of the vehicle is a controllerarea network bus, the converter converts the data received via thecontroller area network bus into an intermediate data format, and themobile device converts the data received from the data communicationdevice into the data format for the asynchronous serial interface.